It looks like the Chula Vista City Council has gotten sick of the garbage.
And so have a lot of the people who live in the county’s second largest city. The mayor and council members are threatening to end their contract with their city’s garbage hauler, Republic Services, if the month-long strike doesn’t end.
The Teamsters union drivers are demanding higher pay and most of them recently voted down what the company says was a fair and competitive offer. And while the talks have gone on between labor and management, residents have had to deal with garbage not picked up and having to take it to the dump themselves.
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas told the company Tuesday night, “It disappoints the hell out of me that we’ve gotten to this point because it didn’t have to get to this point”. The mayor adding, “The strike has to end and it has to end with a fair contract.”
And in labor disputes like this, what’s fair and what that looks like is what it’s all about. In the meantime, Chula Vista council members may soon issue a public health emergency.
And with garbage piling up, residents are hoping that the company and the union agree.
(Photo reporting partner 10News)